The Bohemian Census of 1651 and the Position of Inmates

Abstract

To re-Catholicize Bohemia after the Thirty Years' War, the Austrian Habsburgs commissioned, in 1651, a population list according to religious belief, which generated census-type lists for many communities. A research team is constructing and analyzing a database consisting of the 1651 census, the 1654 tax register, the 1680 tax revisitation, and the 1711-1748 Theresian cadaster for five feudal domains of Bohemia. One phenomenon that has been observed in the 1651 census sample is the large population of inmates living in the households of others. The authors use the census itself, village land records, and feudal court minutes to explore alternative explanations for the existence of inmates, including inheritance customs, land scarcity, and feudal dues.